


Angel Gwarcheidiol

by allypx



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-22
Updated: 2016-10-22
Packaged: 2018-08-24 01:17:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8350639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allypx/pseuds/allypx
Summary: We all need someone to watch over us.





	

Owen removed his latex gloves and put them in a bag in his medical kit. He got to his feet and checked his watch. Four minutes now...four minutes since the crazed Weevil had attacked Jack in the dark cellar where it had been cornered. Jack had shoved Owen out of harm's way and had taken the full force of the Weevil's rage. It wasn't until it had fatally wounded Jack, and turned its attention to him, that Owen had had the presence of mind to shoot it.

Now Jack lay dead on the filthy, wet floor at Owen's feet. Gwen's voice over his comm startled him,

"Jack! Owen! What's going on down there? Are you alright? Do you need back-up?"

"No, I'm fine. Just...send Ianto down here will you, Gwen? The weevil is dead, and so is Jack." 

"What! I'll come too... I could just...Owen?"

"No, you and Tosh stay where you are." He sighed heavily. "You should know how this works by now, Gwen. Just Ianto."

Hating the helpless feeling inside him, Owen crouched beside Jack and checked his neck for a pulse. Still nothing. Feeling increasingly worried he touched his comm, 

"Gwen. Where the hell is Ianto?"

"Here," Ianto appeared at the top of the stairs, torch in hand, peering into the cellar. "Where are you?"

"Over here,"

Ianto was beside him in an instant. Shrugging off his jacket he dropped to his knees next to Jack. Heedless of the fithy water he was now kneeling in, he lifted Jack's head gently, placed his now bundled up jacket under his head, and manoeuvred him onto his side.

"Why did you leave him like that?" He glared at Owen.

"Sorry, mate", he shrugged. "Didn't think he'd..." Owen's voice trailed off as he realised Ianto wasn't listening.

"How long now?"

Owen checked his watch. "Six minutes"

"More than usual," Ianto muttered under his breath.

In a quiet, low voice, he began to talk to Jack. A monologue in Welsh that Owen didn't understand. The Welsh puzzled him. Jack only understood enough to recognise when someone was hitting on him, and he didn't speak a single word of it as far as Owen knew.

Outwardly Ianto was calm personified, still kneeling at Jack's side, his hand resting gently on Jack's chest waiting to feel his first heartbeat, his first breath. 

Since Jack's return from his travels, this was how it had been. Ianto had been insistent about that,

"Taking care of the dead is my responsibility. Even Jack." Especially Jack, remained unspoken.

Ianto would stay with Jack and Owen would hover in the background, keeping the women away. Ianto had told them that this was best for Jack - it was upsetting for him to see them distressed as he came back.

Owen knew it was lies. All of it. The truth of the matter was that it was Ianto who couldn't bear to have anyone other than Owen there. As Jack's body painfully repaired itself and he waited to hear that juddering first breath, Ianto could trust himself not to fall apart in front of Owen. The girls, they were too much for him to deal with.

"How long now?" Ianto glanced over at Owen. In that brief moment Owen saw the look of desperate panic in Ianto's eyes and he knew, just knew, that he would never be strong enough to watch a lover go through this.

"Ten minutes, but only four since you started talking to him." He attempted a reassuring smile in Ianto's direction "Shouldn't be long now."

It struck him as strange that Ianto seemed to know instinctively what to do, his voice patient and steady as the litany of Welsh resumed.

Leaning against the wall of the damp cellar, Owen wished he could think of something useful to do, something to help Jack. There was nothing, there had been no "Medical Checks To Do As An Immortal Resurrects" lectures at medical school. He would've remembered that one! Jack was writing the text book on that subject single-handedly.

"I can feel a pulse, Owen." Ianto's voice cut across Owen's thoughts.

Owen crossed the short space and put two fingers on Jack's neck. He nodded.

"Yeah. He's coming back."

Ianto sat back on his heels and ran his fingers through his hair. He let out a shaky sigh as Owen rested a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay, mate?" 

Ianto nodded. "Doesn't get any easier."

"I have no idea how you do this. If it was me and him... if we were... you know," Owen shook his head " I couldn't do this if..."

"Watching over him. It's what I do, Owen" Ianto shrugged, "dead or alive, makes no difference."

Both men watched as Jack drew in a painful breath. His eyes focused and fixed on Ianto.

"Ianto. Watching over me again?"

"Always." He smiled gently, helping Jack to sit up. Jack pulled him into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry. You alright?"

"Yup."

"Fy angel gwarcheidiol" 

Neither of them noticed that Owen had slipped away.

 

Welsh Translations:

Angel Gwarcheidiol : Guardian Angel

Fy angel gwarcheidiol: My Guardian Angel

**Author's Note:**

> Reposted from LJ. It was beta'd by some old friends no longer in fandom or actively on LJ. I have tidied it up a bit from the version that was first posted.
> 
> I know that it's pretty much an accepted fact now that Ianto does not speak Welsh, but it suited my purposes to disregard that for this story. Besides, I wrote it ages ago!


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